Thoughts on Team USA vs Turkey

9am here in the States, while Team USA is playing Turkey as a preparation for the Olympics. Here are some random thoughts during the first half:

• LeBron James is a fan of tight jerseys - I mean really tight.
• ESPN commentators sound like Euroleague commentators - if you have followed this blog and the Euroleague TV games, you know what that means in terms of spelling European cities and player names.
• first quarter, 31-30 - meaning no defense by either team, which Team USA will not see at the Olympics when playing teams such as Greece.
• As the ESPN2 moderators tell us, the FIBA ball CAN be smaller or bigger - never heard of something like that.
• Team USA has not learned its lesson - too much one-on-one, with Turkey taking advantage of that during the first quarter.
• According to the commentators, Carmelo Anthony is the best international player in the world.
• Way too many turnovers by Turkey to stay close in the second quarter - they only scored 7 points in the whole second quarter.
• The fans in Macao LOVE Kobe Bryant - even here he got MVP chants right from the beginning.
• Team USA’s full court defense does not work and is no more intimidating - not even to Turkey.
• For Team USA, it might all be about unselfishness, but somebody has to explain to them that playing unselfish and playing as a team is different - I still do not see a team - some great and nice highlight plays though.
• Turkey gave up with about 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.